Introduce and Practice Connotation and Denotation
This is a complete lesson plan and student materials for introducing and practicing connotation and denotation. This is a no prep lesson on connotation and denotation that contains everything you

Growth Mindset Reading Comprehension For Middle and High School
This is a lesson plan that contains a reading comprehension activity for middle and high school students about growth mindset. Growth mindset, in a nutshell, is the belief that

All Summer In A Day: Cite Textual Evidence
This is a complete lesson to help students learn to cite textual evidence to support analysis, based on Ray Bradbury’s short story “All Summer In A Day.” This lesson plan aligns to CCSS R1 and RL 6.1,

All Summer In A Day: Complete Unit
This complete mini-unit is a deep-dive into Ray Bradbury’s classic short story “All Summer In A Day.” There are three lessons in the mini-unit, and it could take up to a week to teach. Save big by buying the

Rigorous Holiday Fun for Reinforcing Punctuation and Other Grammar Concepts
This resource is a Christmas/holiday themed color by number to help students practice common middle school grammar concepts like comma usage and subject/verb agreement.

Eugenia W. Collier's "Marigolds": Task Cards for Citing Textual Evidence
This resource is a set of 20 task cards designed to help students practice citing evidence to support conclusions from the text, based on Eugenia Collier’s short story

End of Year Activities: Middle School
Write a letter to an incoming 6th Grader
This resource contains a complete set of student materials and a rubric for a meaningful end of year activity for middle school students: writing a letter of advice to

The Sniper: Complete Unit
This complete short story unit contains three ready to print lessons with student materials and an answer key for Liam O’Flaherty’s short story “The Sniper.” These lessons are written for 90 minute class periods and will

This no prep, ready to print mini-unit is a deep dive into Gary Soto’s short story “The School Play.” It is aligned to 6th Grade Common Core ELA standards, but could be used as a beginning of the year mini-unit in a 7th grade ELA class. It includes

Goal Setting for Middle School ELA
Great for beginning of the year or beginning of the semester
This resource is a self-assessment and goal setting packet for the middle school ELA classroom. Students first rate their perceived level of

The Life of Edgar Allan Poe: Editable Reading and Writing Stations
This resource is a complete set of student materials designed to introduce students to the life of Edgar Allan Poe and to practice objective summary. In this lesson, students learn

Lord of the Flies: Close Reading and Argumentative Writing
A Project Investigating the Deaths of Simon and Piggy
This resource is a culminating project for the book Lord of the Flies that builds skills in close reading and argumentative writing.

End of Year Activities: 5th Grade
Write a letter to an incoming 5th Grader
This resource contains a complete set of student materials and a rubric for a meaningful end of year activity for 5th grade students: writing a letter of advice to an

Introduce and Practice Ethos, Pathos and Logos
This resource is a complete lesson plan with all student materials for introducing and practicing defining ethos, pathos and logos and identifying the use of each in sample texts. This resource for

Eight Graphic Organizers for Central Idea
Use with ANY informational text
Great for test prep, reading or writing units
This resource is a set of eight graphic organizers to help students determine central idea, analyze the development of central

Understanding the Differences Between Narrative, Expository and Argumentative Prompts
Perfect for Standardized Test Prep
This resource is a complete lesson plan and student materials to help students understand the different types of writing

The Tell-Tale Heart:Cite Evidence
This is a complete lesson plan for citing evidence to support analysis of what the text says using Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” This lesson plan on citing evidence to support analysis includes all

Explore Growth Mindset and Set Goals for ELA
Two Lesson Bundle
This resource is a bundle with two lessons to help students explore growth mindset and set goals for ELA. It is suitable for middle school or early high school. More information, and a

Rigorous Fun for Reinforcing Punctuation and Other Grammar Concepts
This resource is an end of year themed color by number to help students practice common middle school grammar concepts like comma usage and subject/verb agreement. This resource

#bestof2016sale
Short Stories for Middle School Mega Bundle
Rigorous, Common Core-aligned, ready to print, resources for teaching short stories in Middle School
Save over 40% with this bundle of short stories for middle school
This resource, a

Ratings

Ask GritGrindTeach a question. They will receive an automated email and will return to answer you as soon as possible.
Please Login to ask your question.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

I have 8 years of experience in education, all of it with urban, high-needs populations. I've been a classroom teacher for 7 years and have taught middle school ELA and Reading Intervention, as well as high school social studies. I also worked as a curriculum project manager in primary literacy for a start-up in Nairobi, Kenya.
I currently teach 8th grade ELA.

MY TEACHING STYLE

Ask my students or my colleagues and they'll both tell you I expect a lot of my middle schoolers. My classes are heavy on complex text, heavy on student discussion, heavy on contemporary issues,heavy on evidence-based argumentative writing, and my students leave me better readers, writers and critical thinkers because of that. I'm not big on songs, chants, clip art or power point. We just dig into text early and often.

HONORS/AWARDS/SHINING TEACHER MOMENT

My students regularly grow more than two years in reading in one school year with me, whether they are on the high end of their class or the low end.

MY OWN EDUCATIONAL HISTORY

BA in Geography from Macalester College
MAT in Secondary Ed from University of Memphis
Wilson Reading Certification

ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

I love cats, coffee, travel, cooking and mid-century modern furniture.